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Post by imaginaryfriend on Jun 4, 2021 7:11:48 GMT
Peace through strength? Not sure "Loup" will be impressed. Also I think that's an assurance that they're not just going to hand the water over without some sort of dialogue at least, possibly some conditions if they think they can get them. And the Shadow Men going along isn't exactly a vote of confidence in the team.
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caber
Junior Member
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Post by caber on Jun 4, 2021 7:33:08 GMT
I can't shake the feeling that this is going to go really wrong.
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Post by silicondream on Jun 4, 2021 7:42:14 GMT
Yay, full backup! It's going to be hilarious if/when Loup immediately neutralizes the entire team and then has a happy private picnic with Annie anyway. I mean, no doubt the Court has a special plan for dealing with omega-level reality warpers, but its only working strategy with Coyote was "try to keep him more amused than annoyed," so the odds are not great. Current bets on the Court's possible strategy here? - Actually fight Loup, in which case they'll probably get beat down like Everybody Vs. Thanos in a Jim Starlin comic
- Deploy some dastardly scheme to assassinate or capture Loup, in which case see #1
- Trap Annie and all her troublesome friends in the Forest, purge any remaining dissidents from the Court and then quietly do nothing about Loup, because any good totalitarian society needs a permanent outside threat to justify itself
- Offer Loup their immediate and unconditional surrender, because what the hell people, we're bringing him his MacGuffin and sacrificing basically everybody in the Court who can fight, might as well just give him the damn place and hope he beats up Kat's robot army for us
- Hook Annie up with Loup so she can finally stop being Queslett's least eligible bachelorette
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V
Full Member
I just think it's a pity that she never wore these again.
Posts: 168
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Post by V on Jun 4, 2021 7:48:28 GMT
III. Trap Annie and all her troublesome friends in the Forest, purge any remaining dissidents from the Court and then quietly do nothing about Loup, because any good totalitarian society needs a permanent outside threat to justify itself V. Hook Annie up with Loup so she can finally stop being Queslett's least eligible bachelorette :-D :-D On an unrelated note, it warms my heart when Annie and Eglamore are shown behaving friendly to each other. I know it's not the first time but it was a shame how reserved they used to be. |
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Post by hnau on Jun 4, 2021 8:05:07 GMT
Yay, full backup! It's going to be hilarious if/when Loup immediately neutralizes the entire team and then has a happy private picnic with Annie anyway. I mean, no doubt the Court has a special plan for dealing with omega-level reality warpers, but its only working strategy with Coyote was "try to keep him more amused than annoyed," so the odds are not great. Current bets on the Court's possible strategy here? - Actually fight Loup, in which case they'll probably get beat down like Everybody Vs. Thanos in a Jim Starlin comic
- Deploy some dastardly scheme to assassinate or capture Loup, in which case see #1
- Trap Annie and all her troublesome friends in the Forest, purge any remaining dissidents from the Court and then quietly do nothing about Loup, because any good totalitarian society needs a permanent outside threat to justify itself
- Offer Loup their immediate and unconditional surrender, because what the hell people, we're bringing him his MacGuffin and sacrificing basically everybody in the Court who can fight, might as well just give him the damn place and hope he beats up Kat's robot army for us
- Hook Annie up with Loup so she can finally stop being Queslett's least eligible bachelorette
VI. It's a distraction. They've put some trackers into the water, like the ones they always mix into the student's food. |
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Post by madjack on Jun 4, 2021 8:17:38 GMT
That party is everyone who can meaningfully defend the Court, all in one basket.
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Post by speedwell on Jun 4, 2021 8:24:20 GMT
That party is everyone who can meaningfully defend the Court, all in one basket. So it is. For full avoidance of doubt, that is strategically classed as "not a good idea". |
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Post by philman on Jun 4, 2021 8:38:43 GMT
That party is everyone who can meaningfully defend the Court, all in one basket. Nah, Kat and her angelic robot army aren't there (but are probably the backup saviours when the frontline gets inevitably neutralised) |
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Post by Jelly Jellybean on Jun 4, 2021 9:55:16 GMT
I was going to wait until we saw the entire group around Aata, but Idra O'Kerrigan does not appear to be in this party. Strange considering Idra was untouched when Loup froze the Forest. She may be the only one who can avoid getting frozen, ejected, or worse by Loup.
The treatise imply that Kat will join the Shadowmen. Maybe this iteration of the Shadowmen are eliminated and Kat will reform the Shadowmen under new management.
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Post by pyradonis on Jun 4, 2021 10:43:30 GMT
Did Cvet shave her moustache off? That party is everyone who can meaningfully defend the Court, all in one basket. Barring everyone we don't know, at least the Donlans and any number of robots are missing (but the robots are already defending the Court keeping the shield up...). Jones as well (though it's another question if she actually would actively defend the Court if it came to it).
That party is everyone who can meaningfully defend the Court, all in one basket. Nah, Kat and her angelic robot army aren't there (but are probably the backup saviours when the frontline gets inevitably neutralised) The robots are busy keeping the shield up. The few that got new bodies are probably in hiding since the Court would not be amused finding out about them.
Yay, full backup! It's going to be hilarious if/when Loup immediately neutralizes the entire team and then has a happy private picnic with Annie anyway. I mean, no doubt the Court has a special plan for dealing with omega-level reality warpers, but its only working strategy with Coyote was "try to keep him more amused than annoyed," so the odds are not great. Current bets on the Court's possible strategy here? - Actually fight Loup, in which case they'll probably get beat down like Everybody Vs. Thanos in a Jim Starlin comic
- Deploy some dastardly scheme to assassinate or capture Loup, in which case see #1
- Trap Annie and all her troublesome friends in the Forest, purge any remaining dissidents from the Court and then quietly do nothing about Loup, because any good totalitarian society needs a permanent outside threat to justify itself
- Offer Loup their immediate and unconditional surrender, because what the hell people, we're bringing him his MacGuffin and sacrificing basically everybody in the Court who can fight, might as well just give him the damn place and hope he beats up Kat's robot army for us
- Hook Annie up with Loup so she can finally stop being Queslett's least eligible bachelorette
VI. Open the two briefcases, each containing a robot's head, and activate a shield bubble around themselves like the one that protects the Court. |
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Post by Gemminie on Jun 4, 2021 12:04:01 GMT
My impressions of this page:
We have a long shot of Annie, James and Cvet with parts of the Shadow Men group in the foreground. One of them appears to be Aata; the other isn't easily identifiable as someone we already know. Annie's marveling that the Court's letting "us" go with them. One could interpret that "us" as Annie, James, Parley, and Cvet, and that would make sense, because in the past they'd sent Annie in alone, or rather they'd sent Jones with Annie but Loup didn't want extra company, and then later they'd sent the two Annies in without anyone else. Or the "us" could mean that Annie's talking about herself in plural; I'm still keeping open the possibility that both Annies are still in there in some sense.
You know, when Riker grew his beard on ST:TNG, my friends and I were rooting for Q to zap his beard off again, and here I'm kinda hoping Loup will do that to James. Anyway, James is of the opinion that Loup wouldn't let the Shadow Men in without Annie, and the SM know that. But I'm still not seeing any indication that they've briefed James, Parley, Cvet, or Annie on what the plan is.
Annie calls James, Parley, and Cvet "full backup," as if it would make one whit of difference whether they were there or not if Loup decided to get confrontational.
Parley reminds Cvet that they aren't looking for a fight, and Cvet looks unhappy about that. Possibly that's because Cvet's itching for a fight, or maybe Cvet's unhappy at Parley's implication that she needs reminding about that.
The final frame completes the progression we've been gradually seeing: Parley/Cvet didn't appear at all in the first two panels, but now they're the only two visible. Will this chapter focus on them? In a way I'd like that, because we don't focus on them a lot, but on the other hand we haven't seen events unfolding from Annie's point of view for a while (we saw her talking about things a lot last chapter, but that isn't what I mean), and she's supposedly the protagonist. Anyway, Cvet knows the Court prefers to do things the "boring" way, meaning the non-fighting way. Parley has sort of a challenging smile on her face; she knows Cvet would prefer to do some fighting, and Parley doesn't think that's entirely wrong of her.
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Post by saardvark on Jun 4, 2021 12:27:15 GMT
I like how the combined Annie seems more comfortable around Eggs now - not prickly like in the Perspectives chapter....
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Post by todd on Jun 4, 2021 12:41:38 GMT
Count me as another person who suspects that Loup will find some way of keeping Annie separate from everyone else - maybe even forcing everyone else out of Gillitie Wood so that he can speak with her alone (unless she's not the one carrying the lake water - which is likely; I doubt that Aata would allow her to have it), in which case, he'll neutralize the rest of the group some other way.
The good thing about some Court officials coming along is that we just might get some actual dialogue between them and Loup over the Court vs. Forest conflict. Not a lot, I admit, given that the Court wouldn't want to give away too much information in front of Annie (and probably not that much in front of Eglamore, Parley, and Cvet, either) and that Loup's mentality isn't that conducive to negotiation, but it would be great for both sides to finally say something about the root of the trouble (the Court wants to figure out how the ether works, but doing so damages the etheric world that the Forest is part of).
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V
Full Member
I just think it's a pity that she never wore these again.
Posts: 168
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Post by V on Jun 4, 2021 13:11:00 GMT
It seems that all Loup needs to do to recover the memory is to devour it. So, if Aata's reluctant to giving the gift back or letting Annie do so, he could just swallow him as a whole :-)
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Post by fia on Jun 4, 2021 15:24:15 GMT
Hmm, I just realized there will probably be Time Shenanigansâ„¢. Otherwise, why else would the Norns have mentioned Kat comes to them multiple times? We haven't seen evidence she's needed to travel back in time before... and Tom is a noted fan of DBZ, which prominently features androids from a future dystopia they are trying to avert... I mean I could be wrong. But Gunnerkrigg has shocked us before. And Coyote has been associated with chaos multiple times before. Time is messed up in the forest. This isn't going to be some simple labyrinthine illusion they fight off like with the Wisps, if it is to be a confrontration. I've also been waiting for the other shoe to drop on this page for a very long time. A Renard-Ysengrin, possibly robotified Coyotified version, of whatever the heck is going to happen in the future. |
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Post by ctso74 on Jun 4, 2021 16:28:54 GMT
Well, either this will end poorly for the Shadowmen, or they'll test out a "reality stabilizer" and freak Loup out. Quite the gamble, either way. What's in it for them, to go into the Forest? If they wanted to test a device, they could have sent it with Eggs. Some thing seems hidden, as always. You know, when Riker grew his beard on ST:TNG, my friends and I were rooting for Q to zap his beard off again That is madness, and pure awesome. DS9 for life. |
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Post by warrl on Jun 4, 2021 18:43:07 GMT
My impressions of this page: Annie calls James, Parley, and Cvet "full backup," as if it would make one whit of difference whether they were there or not if Loup decided to get confrontational. I am not convinced that Annie isn't referring to the rest of the group, including the Shadow Men. And that sort of "full backup" means that the Court is taking this meeting seriously - so while it probably won't hinder Loup any, it still can have some significance. |
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Post by silicondream on Jun 4, 2021 18:43:14 GMT
Well, either this will end poorly for the Shadowmen, or they'll test out a "reality stabilizer" and freak Loup out. Quite the gamble, either way. What's in it for them, to go into the Forest? If they wanted to test a device, they could have sent it with Eggs. Some thing seems hidden, as always. You know, when Riker grew his beard on ST:TNG, my friends and I were rooting for Q to zap his beard off again That is madness, and pure awesome. DS9 for life. Bearded Eglamore: Excessively Stolid? ...this means Eglamore's the most likely character to get duplicated next, doesn't it. We'll have a bearded Eglamore to represent the Kate Rusby version, and a beardless Eglamour to represent the Middle English version.... |
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Post by todd on Jun 4, 2021 23:37:21 GMT
And Coyote has been associated with chaos multiple times before. Which reminds me of a thought I recently had. Loup described Ysengrin in "Neither" as having "a feeble, regimented mind". "Regimented" suggests "order", and Ysengrin does come across as having a strong tone of order (his title of "General", for example, which suggests organization and rank). Might this be one reason why Loup is in the troubled condition he's in - he's an attempt to blend Chaos and Order, distinct opposites, together - which naturally would have big problems? (It casts new light, also, on Coyote's original candidate for his plan being Renard, a fellow trickster, who'd be a better fit.) |
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Post by todd on Jun 4, 2021 23:40:24 GMT
Well, either this will end poorly for the Shadowmen, or they'll test out a "reality stabilizer" and freak Loup out. Quite the gamble, either way. What's in it for them, to go into the Forest? Most likely to control the negotiations with Loup, rather than leave those in the hands of a "Forest sympathizer" like Annie. Though, from what I've seen of Loup, I doubt it'll turn out well; he'll probably keep changing the subject to matters like why there's now one Annie rather than two Annies again, and give Aata barely an opportunity to speak up. |
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Post by todd on Jun 4, 2021 23:44:53 GMT
The final frame completes the progression we've been gradually seeing: Parley/Cvet didn't appear at all in the first two panels, but now they're the only two visible. Will this chapter focus on them? In a way I'd like that, because we don't focus on them a lot, but on the other hand we haven't seen events unfolding from Annie's point of view for a while (we saw her talking about things a lot last chapter, but that isn't what I mean), and she's supposedly the protagonist. I wouldn't read too much into the last couple of panels' focus on Parley and Cvet; it might be just a "tension-relieving" look at some of the subordinate characters rather than a hint as to where the focus will be, more akin to, say, the panels that focused on John and Margot or on Winsbury and Janet in the "Power Station" chapter. |
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Post by lurkerbot on Jun 5, 2021 0:21:11 GMT
So how do the Shadow Men think they can prevent Loup from just tossing them into orbit like he did with Jones? Maybe they figure on holding the Lake Water hostage as a bargaining chip for their safety? That could get - interesting. And I wonder what would happen if someone tried (or even just threatened) to pour the Lake Water out of its vial to keep it away from Loup. |
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Post by warrl on Jun 5, 2021 0:36:25 GMT
And I wonder what would happen if someone tried (or even just threatened) to pour the Lake Water out of its vial to keep it away from Loup. I suspect that would work about as well as pouring it directly into his mouth would. |
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Post by blahzor on Jun 5, 2021 4:21:25 GMT
Guess she doesn't want to win. She didn't bring out the big guns of Kat.
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Post by blahzor on Jun 5, 2021 4:22:20 GMT
So how do the Shadow Men think they can prevent Loup from just tossing them into orbit like he did with Jones? Maybe they figure on holding the Lake Water hostage as a bargaining chip for their safety? That could get - interesting. And I wonder what would happen if someone tried (or even just threatened) to pour the Lake Water out of its vial to keep it away from Loup. Same reason they wasn't worried about Coyote while he was in the court. Prep time Gunnerkrigg |
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Post by exterminatecake on Jun 5, 2021 17:50:17 GMT
I love Cvet. "Gossipy, hotheaded, powerful magical creature" is a fun trope.
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Post by todd on Jun 6, 2021 0:56:38 GMT
Did Cvet shave her moustache off? After studying the various drawings of Cvet, I'd say that those were nostrils rather than a moustache (though they were shaped close enough to one of those upturned moustaches that they could be easily mistaken for it). |
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Post by rylfrazier on Jun 6, 2021 1:37:29 GMT
I think the Shadow Men are looking to talk to Loup directly - it's not clear to me that they've had any direct contact with him and since the last time Annie went over there, there was a quite a bit of chaos immediately after, they are probably wanting to speak to him directly without necessarily understanding how dangerous he is. The current Court don't seem to have as good a handle on what they're dealing with as the prior generation did, I wouldn't count on them having a brilliant plan, they seem pretty bumbling and reactive.
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Post by maxptc on Jun 6, 2021 5:25:18 GMT
I feel like we may be sleeping on the Court's power level. Not that I think it likely, but they could have some sort of tech that works.
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Post by pyradonis on Jun 6, 2021 10:26:49 GMT
Did Cvet shave her moustache off? After studying the various drawings of Cvet, I'd say that those were nostrils rather than a moustache (though they were shaped close enough to one of those upturned moustaches that they could be easily mistaken for it). Oh, I know those were her nostrils. It's just that the first time she appeared someone said it looked like a moustache and I could never unsee the moustache after that. What my comment really meant was: "Cvet's nostrils seem drawn differently." |
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